HANY SALAAM
Executive Chairman
Hany was born in Beirut in 1937 and has dual Lebanese and British citizenship. He was educated in Lebanon and earned a civil engineering degree from Loughborough University in the UK in 1957. He is fluent in English, French and Arabic.
Since his graduation, Hany has enjoyed a long entrepreneurial career with a strong record of commercial and diplomatic achievement in an international context. He has widely based management experience in a variety of industries, excellent inter personal skills and a very wide range of relationships at the highest levels of government and commerce.
He was raised in a very successful business and political family, which has formed the basis of his entrepreneurial and diplomatic activities. For example, his father, Muhammed Salaam and his paternal uncle, Mr Saeb Salaam, founded Middle East Airlines in the early 1940’s. Two of his paternal uncles, Mr Saeb Salaam and Mr Rashid Karami, served as Prime Ministers of the Lebanese government. His maternal uncle, Dr Fakri Khalidi, served as Prime Minister of Jordan.
Hany has been honoured on numerous occasions for his contributions, notably:
Served his country as Presidential Envoy under the governments of Presidents Elias Sarkis, Suleiman Franjieh and Amin Gemayel. Was heavily involved in the peace accords with Syria and Israel.
Special Adviser to H.E. Omar Bongo, President of the Gabon.
Special Adviser to H.E. Pascal Lissouba, former President of the Republic of the Congo.
Awarded the honorary title of “Dato Seri” by His Majesty The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Ja’afar ibni Al-Marhun Tuanku Abdul Rahman, King of Malaysia, for services to that country.
His philanthropic activities include:
The Salaam Foundation supports charitable and educational ventures, world-wide.
The Salaam Intercultural Resource Centre at Georgetown University in the USA provides research materials and scholarships aimed at the promotion of better international understanding. The Centre organises high profile lectures and seminars.
Hany has personally sponsored the university education of more than 80 students.